Right, I’ve got some creaking flooring sheet on my landing. The problem appears to be that the nails used to secure the chipboard sheet are losing their grip on the flooring but are still firmly embedded in the joist underneath. I’d like to get the nails out of the floor & replace them with screws. However the nailheads are flush & beyond my technology for removal. Putting additional screws in adjacent locations is a non starter. There are pipes notched into the joists close to the nails. I know this to my cost 😀

Ideas for nail removal appreciated.

TIA Dave

these are very good

you can hammer it o to the nail and pry it out

+1 pry bar

Big magnet?

Get yourself a Cat’s Paw. Lever the nail out enough for a claw hammer and use the hammer for the rest.

Circular saw in between gaps to cut whole piece and pry up with a flat bar.

Circular saw in between gaps to cut whole piece and pry up with a flat bar.

That will leave a section of floor with no T&G to make it rigid, not ideal really if it’s not essential.
Also the notched in pipe work could cause an issue unless he’s a dab hand with the depth gauge and knows exactly how deep the floorboards are.

Get one of these, not the cheapest, but you will be a me to do the job with no hassle and will never drill through a pipe again.

http://www.my-tool-shed.co.uk/p8416/Zircon_MultiScanner_Pro_SL_Edge_Finder/product_info.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=allprods

Get a small pry-bar ( 20 cms long approx ) and hammer the smaller clawed end under the nail-head and lift enough so as to get out with claw-hammer if the bar won’t do it.

I might have to get one of those nealglover

Nail Puller

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Priory-150-Nail-Puller-PRI150/dp/B0055KJ09C

A pipe must either be in a space between the joists or in a notch where the pipes cross over a joist. Where you have a nail, there can’t be a pipe crossing a joist underneath, therefore it’s safe to put a fixing beside the nail in a sideways direction across the width of the joist, but not left and right along the length of the joist (there could be a pipe in a notch nearby). Use a 50mm screw; make sure you drill through the chipboard with a hole big enough for the shaft of the screw not to grip the chipboard, otherwise you will still get creaks.

The posted solutions don’t seem to get round the problem that the nail head is flush with the surface. I had a similar problem and after some searching and experiments I suggest the following:

Find two screwdrivers with a blade width a bit bigger than the nail head, and two flat bits of steel about 2mm thick.

Push the screwdrivers under the nail head from opposite sides. Support them on the bits of steel and lever down on both screwdrivers at once.

This will get the nail head up far enough to get a bar, claw, etc, under it. One screwdriver on its own doesn’t work as the nail bends away from it, two screwdrivers on opposite sides prevent that.

Thats how ive done every floor on rewires n never had a problem?? No worries.

The posted solutions don’t seem to get round the problem that the nail head is flush with the surface.

Mine does

Jota180 is right, thats the nail puller I use and it never fails. It will do the minimum of damage to the board too, but I would still doubt that you would be able to put a screw down the same hole and secure the board.

Same one as trout linked to but with a link that works this time 😉 http://www.screwfix.com/p/pry-bar-203mm/37748

Screwing them down is not guaranteed to work though, it could just as easily be the joists themselves or noggings between them creaking, I’ve even traced creaking to the nails holding down the stud walls in the past.

If it doesn’t work then you’ll want to lift the offending piece, a la big phils advice but re-lay it on expanding glue. (for what its worth all new chipboard floors I lay now are on expanding glue, never had a problem with creaking since.)

Tbh though initially I think I’d punch the nails in further to increase their hold on the boards then screw right at the side of them as per chickenmans advice, this seems to work about 80% of the time, makes the nails a tad more difficult swine to remove after if you do have to take the board up though, good luck, creaking floors can be a biatch to fix!

Mine does

Sorry, jota180. I couldn’t tell that from the photo – and that was why I wrote “don’t seem to…” – but having now read your link it does say that.

Just punch it through with a nail punch much quicker and less mess

Right, many & sincere thank for all of the suggestions 😀 I ended up buying one of these Nail Puller

It’s exactly what was required & pulls ring-shank nails out nae bother 😀 It feels exactly like the thing my dentist used to take out one of my molars 8)

Cheers, D.